Kerala coast insecure, says BJP chief

MALAPPURAM: Charging Kerala’s ruling LDF and the opposition UDF with ignoring national security concerns, BJP today said the growing influence of fundamentalist and extremist elements had rendered the state’s coastal areas vulnerable to Pakistan-inspired subversive activities.

With its coastal stretches turning into haven for extremist and fundamentalist forces, Kerala had become an easy target for subversive activities sponsored by Pakistan, P K Krishnadas, who recently took over as BJP state president, told a meet-the-press programme here.

The Marad incident that claimed nine lives a few years back was a clear signal of the state’s coast becoming vulnerable to the designs of fundamentalist elements, he said.

Accusing the CPI (M) and Congress-led fronts of hoodwinking the people for the sake of power, he said these coalitions that had been in power were not interested in unearthing the facts behind major corruption cases like SNC Lavalin or KSTP road project.

The BJP, on the other hand, would chalk out programmes to function as the “true opposition” in the state, he said.